The Toy Collector
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Harry and Tonks race to find a witch who is using Dark Magic to turn children into toys.
1. A New Collection

_**LbN: Written for Astronauts' Horror Stories Challenge. Prompts were tea cup, porcelain doll, barren trees, and wind. Not all will be used in this chapter specifically. Happy reading! :)**_

The wind whistled through the barren trees, an odd hollow sound echoing through the usually dense forest. At the northernmost part of the woods, a man appeared, followed by a woman. They walked silently through the trees, careful not to make much noise. A bird swooped over them with a loud yelp, making them jump.

The woman stopped to lace one of her boots. "We on the right track you reckon?" she asked, standing again.

"Yeah," the man said. "Let's keep moving."

They walked for another few miles before they came across a clearing. They saw the rest of their team converging on the house that stood in the center of it. It was time.

The woman, Tonks, nodded at the rest of the group, pulling her wand out. She shot a few spells at the cottage and led the way toward it. "Anyone in there, Harry?"

"I…I don't know. The revealer isn't showing anything. But… there's something up."

"Should we hold off for backup?" Kaper, another team member, asked.

Tonks was quiet for a moment, then she shook her head. "Pierce, Langan, you stay outside. Be ready to send for back up if I send you a Patronus."

"Sure Captain," Langan said, nodding.

Tonks beckoned for the rest of the team to follow her. The wooden floors creaked as she walked slowly through the house. The beam of light from her wand fell on the shelves that lined the walls. Dolls, puppets, and various toys were staring down at the team of Aurors.

"This…is…creepy," Seekins, the youngest, said.

"Don't worry about it, mate," Tonks muttered.

"Just look for the kids," Kaper said, following Harry into the hallway.

Tonks stopped suddenly, and turned. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we _have_ found them."

Seekins, who was about to pick up one of the puppets, stopped, hand in midair. "Wait…you don't mean the toys?"

"Yeah," Tonks whispered. "Seekins, run out to Langan and Pierce. Tell them we need Ministry transports here as soon as possible."

"Right Captain."

"Explains why my revealing charm wasn't working," Harry said, looking closely at the toys.

"And why she's calling herself the Toy Collector," Tonks said.

"Hey Captain," Kaper said. "Look at this." He handed her a sheet of parchment.

"Hello my darlings," Tonks read. "I noticed your interest in me had been growing as of late, and I'm afraid this shack is becoming quite cramped with my collection. As it is, I tire of my old toys. You may have these, with my blessing—I've taken my favorites with me. Soon, I will start a new collection—a special collection, you might say. These will be the pride and joy of all my toys. I do hope you haven't tired of our game yet. Be seeing you soon. The Toy Collector."

"Great," Harry sighed. "She's after more kids."

"Let's get these," Tonks indicated the toys around them. "Back to the Ministry."

* * *

The toys—the children—were in the adjoining room. A team was working on sorting out which were really children, and how to turn them back. Tonks and her team were staring at a board full of pictures, trying to plan their next move.

"Do you think all of them are kids?" Langan asked. "I mean, there have only been thirteen kidnapped. There were at least a hundred toys in that room."

"Could some of them be Muggle children?" Seekins asked. "Maybe she started with them, then wanted a challenge, so she switched to kids from the magical community."

"That's actually a good theory," Tonks said. "We know that humans can only sustain transfiguration for so long. Adults can keep it going for about…five months we'll say," she waved her wand, adding some notes to the whiteboard. "Let's be generous and say that kids can sustain constant bodily transfiguration for two months. We've been chasing this witch for a month now, which means some of them have been locked in this curse for around a month. Seekins, go through the Muggle papers for any missing children, ages eighteen months to thirteen years."

He nodded and left the room at a trot.

"She can't have kidnapped a hundred kids in a little over two months," Harry mumbled. "England would be in a panic."

"She's kidnapped at least thirteen," Pierce said. "That's on the excessive end of the scale, wouldn't you say?"

"We need to focus on what's going to happen," Tonks said. "The note said she's starting a new collection. It sounds like she'll be targeting specific types of kids. What do we know about the kids in there?" she asked, nodding toward the other room.

"All of them were under thirteen," Harry said. "They all came from families with multiple children."

"Physically, all of them were normal, healthy kids," Tonks added, waving her wand again. "All of them were turned into dolls, marionettes, or nutcrackers."

"There's no connection between the families," Harry said. "They were all well off, but not extremely rich."

"She said something about the new kids being her pride and joy."

"Maybe that means she's going after boys? That phrase is usually used to describe sons."

Tonks sighed and ran a hand through her black and silver hair. "The frustrating thing is that it could be anything. We don't know what makes these kids special to her."

They sat in silence for a while. All had their eyes trained on the board. The clock striking five pulled them out of their reverie.

"That's time for us," Harry said, stretching. "Who's staying tonight?"

"Seekins and me," Pierce said. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Hey, Harry," Tonks said, "I think I'm going to stay with them a while longer. See if the other team has made any progress with the kids."

"Alright," he said. "Just don't stay too long. The boys will want to see you."

"I'll come home in another hour," she said, kissing him.

"Take it easy," Harry called to the rest of the team.

Tonks smiled as she waved at him. Turning back to the board, she sighed. The pictures and notes stared back at her, not offering anything new. "Let's go over this again," she said wearily.


	2. Baby Doll

_**The Toy Collector**_

"Please, Harry?"

"No."

"But Dad!"

"No," Harry repeated while looking through the cabinets for something to cook. "The case is confidential, and even if it wasn't… there are just some things about your mum's and my job that I want to leave at the office."

Teddy sighed. "If we guess, will you tell us?"

"Nope."

"Nice try," James said, grinning.

"Okay, I'm ordering pizza," Harry huffed. The cabinets were full of snacks for the boys, but nothing to make dinner with. It was the mark of how much he and Tonks had been working lately.

"Wicked. James and I will be outside playing Quidditch."

Harry swallowed the lump of panic that arose in him at his stepson's words. "Sure. Have fun. Don't fly higher than the trees—the neighbors are nosy." The back garden was perfectly safe. He and Tonks had put every protection imaginable on the house when they'd moved in a year ago. He watched the boys for a moment before grabbing the phone and dialing Pizza Hut. "Hello? Yes, I need an order for delivery. Two larges—"

The fire roared to life and Tonks stumbled out. "Pizza?" she whispered.

Harry nodded as he listed ingredients for the pizza boy.

"Order anchovies and I won't put out for a week," she told him, grabbing a soda off the counter.

"Ew! Mum!" Teddy yelled. He'd run back in for his jacket.

Harry laughed. "Sorry!" he said into the phone. "My family is…er…arguing over pizza toppings. How much did you say?"

By the time the food got there, it was clear the Teddy had resolved not to talk about the incident. He spent the first half of dinner harassing James about the upcoming year. Harry finally got tired of the endless speculation on Houses and asked, "Does it matter what House you're in? Do you want one more than the other?"

"Not really," James said, picking the onions off his slice of pizza.

"Fibber," Tonks said, smiling.

"Fine… I don't want Ravenclaw. And I know too many people in Gryffindor, 'cause of Teddy."

"So Hufflepuff or Slytherin?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah…I mean, I guess."

"Mum?" Teddy asked.

"No, I'm not telling you anything about the case."

"Aurgh! Really?" he whined.

"Really," she said. "Why do you two want to know so badly?"

"We have two parents in the Auror department," James explained. "People expect us to know."

"The only people who would be trying to get information out of you are your friends, and reporters," Harry said, smirking. "Either way, it's none of their business."

"It's not about actually _telling _people," Teddy argued. "It's just the smug feeling knowing you have information and they don't."

"You sound like cousin Scorpius," Tonks said.

Teddy and James gave her highly offended looks.

"Ouch."

"Un_called_ for, Mum."

Harry snorted some of his Butterbeer up his nose, laughing. Before he could respond, a hazy falcon soared into the room. As it soared above their heads, they heard Seekins' voice come from it.

"Sorry to bother you both," it said. "We need you back at the office as soon as possible. Something's come up."

"What now?" Tonks sighed.

"Maybe they've found something."

"We'll put up shields," Tonks told Teddy. "No one should be coming by. Don't stay up too late, okay?"

"Alright," Teddy said.

"Will you be back tonight?" James asked.

Tonks glanced at Harry. "I don't know."

"We'll send a Patronus if it looks like we'll be stuck," Harry said.

"If you need anything—"

"We know," James said. "Floo over to Grandmum's."

"Be back as soon as we can," Tonks said, stepping into the fireplace.

Harry finished casting the protective charms and followed her. With a wave to the boys, he said, "Ministry of Magic!" and they were gone.

* * *

Seekins was waiting for them when they got there. Their footsteps echoed in the mostly empty corridor as he filled them in. "They figured out that the souls of the children are actually trapped in the toys—sustaining their life for a little longer."

"Then where are their bodies?" Harry asked.

"That's the complicated bit. As far as the team can tell, the toys are the children, but there's something…off. It's like…." He broke off, obviously trying to figure out a way to say the next bit without sounding bat-shit insane.

"We've seen everything," they reminded him in unison.

"Right then," he said, chuckling. "It's almost like she's found a way to physically encase the children in the toys, without completely transfiguring them."

"You've lost me, mate," Harry said.

"Say I wanted my very own limited edition Harry Potter doll," Seekins explained. "What any regular psychopath would do, would be to immobilize you, and shrink you down. Then you'd be transfigured to look like wood, porcelain, what have you."

"But that's not the case here?" Tonks asked.

"No. Think of it as…er…candy. The actual toy part is a shell, connected to the body and soul inside."

"Shouldn't have eaten just now…" Tonks said, hair turning green.

"It explains the number of toys," Seekins continued. "I went back farther in the Muggle papers. We think she's been kidnapping children for years—in England, Wales, France, and the United States, specifically. We're too late to help most of them, unfortunately. Our "Doll Shell" theory also explains why none of them reverted back to their human size and state after death. They can't, you see, because of the connection to the toy."

"Rather good work in the two hours I've been gone," Tonks said, grinning. "I should leave you lot on your own more often."

"But why did you need us?" Harry asked. "You could've told us this in the morning."

"That's not why we called you in," Seekins said as they made it to Tonks' office. "He's waiting for you both."

"Who?"

"Professor Longbottom."

Tonks gave Harry a confused look, but opened the door.

Sure enough, Neville Longbottom was there, clutching a letter and pacing. "Harry, Tonks," he said, clearly relieved. "I showed them the letter, but they said to wait for you." He handed Harry a folded piece of parchment.

"To the Gardener," Harry read. "The work you do is beautiful. You cultivate so many different flowers. But I shall pluck the most beautiful Rose from your garden. I shall make this pretty doll a lasting monument of innocence and beauty. Yours most humbly, The Toy Collector. When did you get this letter?" he asked.

"I found it when I got back to my apartment after a staff meeting. I had Hannah close the pub early and brought her back to Hogwarts before I came here."

"That's where they are now?" Tonks asked urgently.

"Yes," Seekins said. "But we've sent a dispatch to retrieve them. Kingsley's already approved a house for us to move them to, and one of the other teams will be with them to guard."

"Good work, Seekins," Harry said, nodding.

"What's going on?" Neville asked. "Should I call for a substitute for the start of term? What does the note mean? There have only been rumors about the Toy Collector."

"Sit down, Neville," Tonks said. "Most of the rumors aren't true. The one that is true, is this: the Toy Collector is kidnapping children."

"Alice is in danger then?" Neville asked, standing up.

"We'll make sure a team is with them at all times," Tonks said. She looked out into the hall as a group of loud voices moved toward them. "Oi! What's up?"

"Alice Longbottom is gone," a female Auror said quietly. "We have a team at Hogwarts, and Hannah's here."

"What's up?" Neville asked. "What's happened?"

Another Auror ushered a crying Hannah inside the office.

She ran to Neville. "Alice is gone!" she said through sobs. "There was a…a kn—knock at the door. All I remember is answering it and not seeing anyone. When I woke up, Alice was gone and the Aurors were there."

"I'm going to go check on the Toy team," Seekins muttered.

"Don't worry," Harry told them. "We'll find her."

Tonks nodded, but her hair was blue. She wondered exactly how much time they had to find her.

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! Drop me a review, won't you? :)_**


	3. Little Dancer

**The Toy Collector**

Tonks hardly slept that night. She never could with these cases. Every couple of hours she would get up and go check on the boys.

"They're fine, pumpkin," Harry said, standing in the doorway.

She smiled, walking back down the hall to him. "Pumpkin? You haven't called me that in forever. Either you're trying to take my mind off things, or you're planning on getting lucky tonight." She and Harry weren't the sort to use pet names on a regular basis. The reemergence of "Pumpkin" and "Shortie" only meant two things: someone was stressed or horny. Or possibly both.

"Both?" Harry offered.

Tonks chuckled as she closed the door to their room.

* * *

"Any luck?" Tonks asked, then stopped dead in her tracks. "Er…what's going on?"

"See the light around them?" Seekins said, ushering her over to where the toys stood in cases. "It gets dimmer as they…as they start to die. We can see it better with the mirrored cases. We haven't lost any yet, but a couple of the Muggle children are close. And we still don't know how to turn them back."

Tonks looked up at the toys. Bright blue glows surrounded the ones who had been taken just before Alice, and then got fainter as they traveled down the line. "And these?" she asked of the rest of the toys. Their glows had already gone out.

"We're trying to see if there's a way we can turn them back to their human form, even if they're dead. We'd like to give their families some closure."

"Right," Harry said, coming over. "Stay with this team for now. If you guys figure out how to change them back, you can come with us when we go look for Alice."

"Sounds good—wait, when? Our team's not going out immediately? Why?"

"Because someone else got a letter this morning," Harry said grimly.

* * *

"To the artist," Ron read to the team as he paced his living room. "Your tiny dancer is magical. She is art and Femininity in motion. I wish for her to stay this way forever—a monument to childhood innocence. I will make it so. Yours very humbly, The Toy Collector."

"Is Rhys in danger?" Pansy asked quietly. The girl was in the kitchen coloring.

"It seems she's the Toy Collector's next target," Tonks explained with a sigh. "We'll have the guard team come stay with you."

"Why her though?" Ron asked.

"It's a little too early to establish a pattern," Tonks told him. "We just know that she's after special kids. Unfortunately we don't know _what _makes them special to her."

"How did she even find Rhys?" Pansy whispered.

"Very probably through the Magicians' Dance Academy. Rhys is a featured dancer for the children's group. But again, we don't know why she wants Rhys specifically."

Ron sat down and ran his hands through his hair. "I'll owl Fred and George and tell them I'm not coming in to the shop for a while."

"Patronus," Harry suggested. "It can't be intercepted."

"And it would probably be a good idea not to give them specifics, just in case anyone's with them when they get the message."

"Right."

Just then, Seekins' falcon soared down into the room. "First child recovered. Taking him to St. Mungo's. Come back as soon as you can."

"I'll stay with you, if you like," Harry offered to Ron.

"It's alright. I think we'll get Rhys and take her to Mum's house. We'll be there if you need us."

"Right then."

"Rhys?" Tonks called. "Honey, what are you doing?"

The little girl was standing at the back door, peeking out into the yard. "I'm watching the butterflies."

"Butterflies?" Pansy asked, sounding just as alarmed as Tonks was feeling.

"Pansy, get her away from there!" Tonks said, but it was too late.

Just as Pansy had started for the door, Rhys turned the handle, and in swarmed a horde of butterflies. Tonks was just able to see them carrying the little girl out the door before they'd filled the house. She heard Pansy yell something, and for a moment the room got almost unbearably hot. The butterflies had dropped to the ground a second later, dead, but Rhys was gone.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"A carrying spell," Tonks said. "I've only ever seen it done with birds though. And never this size."

"Rhys is gone," Pansy said, gasping for breath. There was a wake of destruction behind her in the garden, where she'd obviously tried to stop the girl from being taken. "I tried…"

"Going to stop you there," Tonks said. "I'm also going to pretend I didn't hear the spell you used, because if I did, I'd probably have to arrest you."

"Probably?" Pansy asked. "I'm not a Death Eater anymore, but I'm not above fighting fire with fire. Especially when my kid's in danger."

Tonks really couldn't argue with that. "We've got to get back," she said.

"Right," Ron said. "Try to find this psycho before my wife does," he muttered to Harry.

* * *

"St. Mungo's has agreed to send a few Healers to us," Kingsley said. "We've set up a branch of the hospital in a London office building, so the parents of the Muggle children can come and stay with them."

"What's our official statement?" Tonks asked.

"Run of the mill kidnapper. Didn't do anything to the kids, but they're a bit malnourished. Seekins is waiting for you in the Extraction Room."

"The what?" Harry and Tonks asked together.

"Extraction Room," Kingsley repeated. "I'm sure he'll explain."

When the pair made it to the room, they found Seekins organizing the transport of a few more children who had recovered.

"These two were puppets," he said as the Healers wheeled them out of the room.

"How'd you do it?" Harry asked.

"I didn't," he began with a yawn. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he looked a little paler than normal. Nevertheless, he explained the process to them right away. "Pierce and Langan did. From what they've told me, it's a two person process. One uses various extraction charms, while the other does some sort of containment charm on the actual child—so they don't break the kid while trying to get them out of the toy. Oh! And we found that some of the toys _are_ just that—toys. We haven't lost too many kids. I'm not much help in the Charms department, so I've been going over the letters. I feel like they're clues… I just don't know how."

"Keep looking," Tonks said, squeezing his shoulder. "You've got amazing instincts. Trust them."

Seekins nodded at her.

"And See? Get some sleep tonight."

He gave her a sheepish grin and walked back into the other room.


	4. Puppet

**The Toy Collector**

The next few days were tense, but nothing happened. Three teams of Aurors were out searching for Alice and Rhys, but so far nothing had been found. Meanwhile, Tonks's team stayed to see the children recover, and look for other clues. They'd been able to extract all of the children from the toys, and reunite them with their families. Luckily, none of the kids had any memory of the events.

The team was eating lunch silently and staring at the board when they heard shouts in the hall.

"Ma'am! Stop! You can't be back here!"

The noises of footsteps and yelling got closer until, a few moments later, Angelina burst through the door. "Harry," she said, panting. She held a slip of parchment.

"Where are Fred and Little Fred?" he asked automatically.

"At the shop. The note was on the register when he went to open this morning."

"What time?" Seekins asked.

"Er…it was around eight, I guess."

Seekins made a note on the board. "All of the kids were taken between three and five hours of their parents receiving the note."

"Pierce, go back with Angelina. Stay with Fred," Tonks told her. "Don't let him out of your sight."

Angelina nodded and followed Pierce out of the room.

The rest of the room was buzzing, discussing the new note and arguing over what to do next.

"All of the kids targeted have high profile parents."

"And it's always been the high profile parent who finds the note. Neville—famous Herbologist. Ron—famous sculptor. Fred—whose shop is famous."

Tonks noticed Seekins was the only one not talking. "Guys," she said, putting a finger to her lips. She recognized that look—it was the same one Harry got when he remembered something he'd forgotten at the store. "See? What's in your head, mate?" she asked after a few minutes.

"They're clues…" he muttered. "Clues to who she'll take next." He waved his wand and lined up the letters with the pictures. "First was Alice. Her letter called her a rose, but the "R" in "rose" was capitalized. Next taken was Rhys. Her letter said something about her symbolizing femininity, which was capitalized. Next targeted is Fred…." He trailed off, going a bit pale. "Harry, Tonks? Your boys' names are Teddy and James, right?"

"What does the letter say?" Tonks asked.

"To the Joker," Seekins read. "Your boy is a wonderful image of you—fun and Jolly. This puppet is a wonderful Trickster and shall be a symbol of fun and innocence in my collection. T for Teddy and J for James."

"I'll go," Tonks said. "Thanks, Seekins."

* * *

Tonks knew that the boys were worried. They were abnormally quiet and stuck close to her, even though she hadn't exactly told them to. All she'd said, when she got home, was that they weren't to go outside or let anyone in. She looked over at them. Both had silver hair. That was a bad sign. Teddy's hair was always changing, but James had a lot of control over what his features did in response to his emotion. The fact that his hair had been silver all afternoon meant that he was too nervous to do anything about it.

"Boys," she said, waving them over to the couch. "Listen, I know you're upset…." She paused, not knowing how to continue.

"Is it true that that psycho is after Freddie?" Teddy asked.

Tonks sighed. "Yes. But—"

"What does she want?" James asked. "Why is she taking all of these kids?"

"I don't know," Tonks answered. "But I want you guys to be calm, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"Then why did you come home during the middle of the day to stay with us?" Teddy asked. "Is she going to try to take us too?"

"We don't know her plan," Tonks said firmly. "I came home because work was driving me bonkers and I wanted to make sure you two weren't panicking like the last time Harry and I worked a long case," she added, smirking. She'd come home one night to find both of the boys in their room, with a rather impressive fortress built around the bed. Complete with booby traps from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes of course.

Teddy didn't look convinced, but he nodded and went back to building his model airplane.

James stood next to her for another moment, obviously debating whether or not to keep asking questions. He morphed his hair black again after a moment and sat back down with his book.

Tonks was about to start dinner when Seekins' owl, Phosphorous, soared up to the window. She let him in and took the letter, dreading what it might say. As the owl soared back into the bright afternoon sky, she unrolled the parchment and read:

_She got Freddie. Meet Harry and me at 3Ws as soon as you can manage._

* * *

"How?" Tonks asked as soon as she Apparated in front of the shop. She glanced around at the team of Aurors who were being attended to by Medi-Wizards.

"These," Seekins said. "Ingenious really, because of the back to school rush. Nothing suspicious about ordering a ton of them." He held up a crushed Daydream Charm box.

"So, she immobilizes half the crew with a daydream charm," Tonks said. "Then what?"

"Angelina and Little Fred were in the flat above the shop. She says she remembers hearing someone coming up the stairs. She took out her wand, and then she doesn't remember anything."

"Fred was in the back room, but he said he had the curtain open and could see everything. He never saw anyone come in," Harry said.

"I'm going back to the office," Seekins said. "I'll let you know if I find anything else. Kingsley's inside the shop with Angelina and Fred."

* * *

Kingsley, reluctantly, left them on the case. He did insist that they take the next two days off, however, and arrange a secret keeper for the boys.

Andromeda insisted they stay that night. The boys were already asleep by the time they got back, and there was no point in waking them.

Tonks showered quickly, wanting nothing more than to crawl in bed and sleep. Unfortunately for her, Harry was still up flipping through files. "Let's worry about the case tomorrow," she said gently.

"It's not the case," he told her. "I'm looking at Guardian profiles—for when Teddy and James go back to Hogwarts."

Tonks stopped in the middle of brushing her hair. "Harry…you can't be serious."

"We're not going to put their lives on hold for one psychopath."

"One psychopath that's managed to take three kids in a very short span of time, one of whom was AT Hogwarts, and two who were right under the noses of an army of Aurors," Tonks argued. "If we don't catch her soon, we can't send them back."

"Tonks…it's James' first year. We can't take that away from him."

She sighed. In reality, she'd known this conversation would happen soon. Harry had a vastly different relationship with the school than most people. The school was what had saved him—the place that had been his true home. She kissed him on the cheek. "We'll worry about all of it tomorrow. Let's get some sleep."

"Okay. I'm going to go check on the boys first."

Tonks nodded and slid under the covers. She really hadn't noticed how tired she was until her head hit the pillow. She yawned. Maybe they could let the boys go to school. The Guardians were beyond amazing. It might be different, when school was actually in session….

"TONKS!" Harry bellowed.

Tonks shot up, snapping from her thoughts. She ran down the hall, sliding into the doorframe of the boys' room. "What's wrong?" she asked as she rubbed her arm. Then she saw. The window was open, and both beds were empty.

"Tonks? Harry? What's wrong?" Andromeda asked, coming down the hall.

"The boys are gone," Tonks gasped.


	5. Toy Soldiers

**The Toy Collector**

"How?" Tonks asked.

The three teams who'd been on the case were sitting in the meeting room. All of the pictures, clues, and notes were taped to the board. Everyone was quiet.

"She's taken two large teenage boys without so much as disturbing the family dog. And all in the span of about thirty minutes. How?"

"Don't know," Langan said. "Nothing about this makes sense."

"Where's Seekins?" Harry asked.

"In the library," Pierce told him. "He's been there since we got back from Diagon Alley. I keep bringing him coffee."

"We'll get him in a moment. Let's go over the clues again. We must've missed something."

But just then, Seekins burst into the room. He drained whatever it was in his cup and tossed it into the bin. He dropped at least five thick books on the table. "She's a narcissist," he said without preamble. "We've been looking at this from entirely the wrong point of view—treating her like she cares about the kids—like they're being claimed. They're not being treated like her possessions insomuch as she would kill to keep them. We see that in the way she gave up her first collection—kids she'd gathered and been with for years. It shouldn't have been that easy."

"If she were a run of the mill kidnapper, the kids would mean more to her," Harry said, catching on. "Especially after such a long time. She would've put up more of a fight to keep more of them."

"Exactly," Seekins said. "And, if you think about it, it shouldn't have been that easy for us to put together the clues. Plenty of the psychos we see point to things—leave hints—but not like this. She wanted us to figure it out."

"Get to the point, mate," Pierce mumbled.

"Let him work," Tonks said. She knew this was going somewhere. Seekins was her recruit, and she knew how his brain worked. Probably better than she cared to, normally. He had the facts in his head, but he had to go through it out loud if he wanted the answers.

Seekins stared at the board for a second, obviously thrown by the interruption. He nodded sleepily and waved his wand. All of the letters floated toward the table and hovered above it. "In all of them, she seems obsessed with innocence and different aspects of childhood. And she's always talking about monuments." He waved his wand again, and the book on top of the stack rose into the air. It was _Hogwarts,__A__History_. "Did you guys know that Hogwarts used to be an entire village?"

* * *

"Still can't believe you let him come with us," Harry muttered as they walked through the abandoned village. He glanced back at Seekins. The youngest member of their team looked like he was about to drop.

"I had to," Tonks sighed.

* * *

"_You did a great job," Tonks said. "Really great. Go home."_

"_No, I'm coming with you. I can help," Seekins told her, stowing his wand in his robe. _

"_Thomas," Tonks huffed. She only used his first name when she was really frustrated with him. "It's been at least two days since you've slept—"_

"_Tonks, I can do this. I have to do this."_

"_No, you—"_

"_Yes, I do!" Seekins yelped. "It's my fault James and Teddy are gone."_

_Tonks looked at him, lost. "How do you figure that?"_

"_She knew I was onto her. That's why she broke her routine. You should've had more time."_

"_See, there's no way she could've known…."_

"_She nabbed all these kids with us sniffing around. She could've found out somehow. I'm coming with you."_

"_Fine," Tonks said. "But stay close to Pierce."_

* * *

The team stopped in the town square and looked at the old Hogwarts "castle". It wasn't anywhere near as big as the new one. Sparks flew up from the many chimneys.

"Trap," the entire team said.

"Regular smoke to the east," Langan said.

"Let's go," Tonks said.

They trudged through village, their pace hampered by the waist-high grass and weeds. Finally, they made it to a small cottage at the end of a dirt path. It looked exactly like the one they'd found before.

"The creepiness cannot be overstated," another of their team members said.

Seekins moved next to Tonks. "There has to be a reason," he said.

"Right."

"Be careful. I'm not coming in…with your permission, of course."

"Why?"

"I wouldn't be any good in a fight right now," he admitted. "Plus, I'm almost completely sure the kids aren't in there. I need to take someone with me for the Extraction process."

"Pierce," Tonks said quietly. The other man came over. "Go with Seekins. Be on alert."

"Yes, Captain," they said. They left, Pierce following Seekins back into the grass.

"Ready?" Harry said. "Do we have a plan?"

Tonks looked around at the other ten people. "Surround the place. Four of us go in."

Harry nodded. "Let's get her then."

* * *

Seekins didn't know how he had the strength to run, but run he did.

"Seekins!" Pierce said. "Thomas! What exactly are we doing?"

"Does a cottage have anything to do with innocence? Does it have anything to do with childhood?" Seekins asked, slowing down.

"No."

"Exactly. The kids, unless I've misjudged her game, are at a playground. We have to find it."

* * *

"If we're not back in ten, start looking for weak spots in the building. Attack it. Don't set fire to it," Tonks said, with a pointed look at Flockton, their resident pyromaniac.

Harry led the way inside. Wands at the ready, they filed into the living room where a small witch was sitting. Immediately, he was reminded of Mrs. Weasley. He didn't know why. The witch looked nothing like her.

"Harry," Tonks muttered. "Give me your hand."

He did, and looked down. She'd conjured nose plugs. The second he'd covered his nose, any and all warm feelings dissipated. "Wha' da 'ell?"

"I've been so excited to meet you all," the Toy Collector said, still rocking in her chair. "Please, there's no need for wands. I cannot harm you."

"You harmed those kids," Andreas, one of their team members, said.

"I did no such thing," she said calmly. "I helped them. They'll never be tarnished now. They'll keep their innocence until the light leaves them. I know you don't understand, but they are my best collection. Perfect children should stay perfect forever. I know you're upset now, but wait until you see your boys, Mrs. Potter."

Tonks flinched. She really, REALLY, wasn't used to being called that.

"Really, I only wanted the older one. A good fighting spirit, that one—a true little soldier. But the small one was making such a fuss…well, I had to take him too. Halting time only works for so long, and little James was already fighting it hard."

"Time halting?" Harry mumbled.

"Shit!" Tonks said. "Out!"

They Apparated back onto the dirt road and called for backup.

"She's a Time Sorceress," Harry told the others.

"And that magic only works in contained spaces," Tonks added. "Destroy this place."

* * *

There was a row of trees leading up to the playground. Seekins broke into a run. He could see figures standing around—motionless. He was concentrating so much that he almost missed it. He stopped when he heard Pierce call him.

"Look," the older man said.

The fence around the playground was broken down. They could have easily jumped over it, but there were two statues guarding the entrance. One was still moving.

"Teddy!" Seekins yelled. He rushed over and knelt in front of the boy. "Can you hear me?"

"'es…." He spoke quietly, as if unable to move his tongue. He was standing at attention, with a toy rifle over his shoulder. His cheeks had been painted red, but he still looked human. He turned his head as much as he could to see who else was there. "'elp."

"We will, Teddy, don't worry. Are the others here? Where's your brother?"

Teddy made a few grunting noises, but the spell was obviously taking over. He moved his eyes to the right a few times. Another soldier was standing a few yards off.

"It's okay," Seekins said. "We're going to get you out of this. Pierce?"

"We'll round up the rest of the kids and bring them back here. Don't worry, Teddy," he said. As the hopped the fence and walked over to the ballerina on the merry-go-round, he whispered, "I've never done it before the spell was complete. We might have to wait."

Seekins nodded, shaking. He sent up a Patronus to give the MediWizards their exact location. "We'll start with the others then."

* * *

Magical Law Enforcement had arrived to help, and in minutes they had the house in pieces. The Toy Collector—identified as Keira Magdalena Ipswich—didn't put up much of a fight when they caught her.

Tonks gave Harry a small hug. "We need to find Seekins and Pierce."

"No need, Captain," Andreas said. "They're St. Mungo's with the little ones."

"Did they find all of them?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"Every one."

Tonks let out the breath she'd been holding. She took Harry's hand as they climbed into the Ministry car. It was almost over. They'd have their kids back soon.


	6. St Mungo's

**The Toy Collector**

When Harry and Tonks exited the lift at St. Mungo's, Kingsley was there waiting for them. "Well done," he said. "Your teams did great work this month."

"Don't thank us," Harry said. "Thank Seekins."

"I would, but he's sleeping at the moment." Kingsley nodded to the room at the end of the hall.

"Is he okay?" Tonks asked.

"Fine. Passed out from exhaustion after they had gotten all of the kids here. Speaking of which…." He led them over to the next set of doors. "You can go in and see James, but the Healers are still with Teddy."

"Why?" Harry asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"When they found the kids…. I guess Teddy hadn't transformed completely. They waited until they thought he was, but there have been some complications."

"What kind of—" Tonks began, but was drowned out by a blood curdling scream. She went white. "Teddy?"

"Go stay with James," Kingsley said. "I'll have Pierce come in when there's news."

* * *

"Hey See," Tonks said weakly. "How are you?"

"Better. I talked to one of Teddy's Healers outside."

"Is he…okay?" Harry asked. "It's been a while since…." He trailed off. He didn't want to say it, and he didn't need to. It had been about an hour since Teddy had screamed.

"He keeps reverting back to his toy form," Seekins said. "They've managed to halt it, but they don't know how to stop—"

A scream came from the next room then.

Tonks looked like she was about to cry. "What now?"

"Go back to the Ministry with Seekins," Harry said. "I'll stay here. I'll send a Patronus if anything changes."

"Harry…."

"Go on. You're going to go crazy in here. James will be asleep for a while, with the potion they gave him. I'll go wait for Teddy."

"As soon as something happens…"

"I'll let you know."

* * *

"No one's interrogated her yet," Langan said. "She's just sitting there—humming to herself."

"I can't go in there," Tonks said.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "Would've thought you'd want a chance at her."

"I know my limits. If I go in there right now, you'll be shipping two people off to Azkaban."

A cloudy stag came down from the ceiling and galloped around the group. "The Healers have almost got Teddy stable. I'll keep you posted."

Tonks stared at the witch. "Something tells me regular interrogation won't work."

"Memories?" Seekins suggested.

"Those only show what happened, not her motivation…." Tonks thought for a long moment. "Langan, show her to a holding cell. No one talks to her tonight. Seekins… I think I have an idea. Go grab the letters she wrote and meet me in the Floo hall."

* * *

"Mrs. Kessiney? I'm Tonks, one of the detectives on your son's case."

"Oh! Come on in," the woman said, opening the door to the hospital room wider. "Thank you so much…. We thought we'd never see him again."

"You welcome. Is he awake? We'd like to ask a couple more questions."

"Yes… but he's very tired."

"We just have two questions for him, and we'll let him rest. It's very important."

"Very well. Marcus, love?"

"Mum?" the boy whispered, sitting up as much as he could.

"The detectives have a few questions for you. Are you feeling up to it."

The boy nodded.

Seekins sat next to his bed. "I'm Thomas, and that's Dora. We're trying to figure a few things out about the lady who kidnapped you. It will help us put her in jail."

"Okay," Marcus said.

"Yesterday, you told Detective Langan about the wi—woman's house. While you were there, do you remember her saying anything to you? Anything at all?"

"Not really," Marcus told him. "She didn't really talk to us, except for when she…."

"When she what?" Tonks asked gently.

"I… don't remember much. She brought us into a room and told us that we were perfect…er… I think she said 'innocent'. She said that she was going to make it so that no one could ever turn us into disgusting monsters—like most adults are. Her words, not mine," he added with a small smile.

"Right," Seekins said, grinning back. "Anything else?"

"She let us play dress up. Brittany and me. And she put makeup on us. She said we'd stay perfect forever. That's…the last thing I remember."

"That's really helpful, Marcus," Tonks told him. "Thank you. We'll let you get some rest."

They left a few minutes later, after speaking to his parents again. As they walked out into the cool evening air, Seekins finally asked, "So what's your plan?"

"Come again?"

"You suddenly want to interview all the kids… you had a gleam of triumph in your eyes when they all answered the same. What's in your head, Captain?"

Tonks smirked. "How good are your acting skills?"

* * *

Harry snorted awake when he heard the rustling of sheets. "James!" he said. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know that you drool in your sleep and that you and Mom did shots of maple syrup when you were in Canada on a mission…."

Harry hated sleeptalking…. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. I couldn't move if I tried. Where's Teddy?"

"Next door. He's asleep," he added, thankful that the screaming had stopped for good.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He'll be fine. One second—I need to send a Patronus to your mum."

"No you don't. She's right there," James said, pointing towards the door.

"Hey," Tonks said. "How's my little chameleon?"

"Mother, really…."

"Better already, I see."

"Did you catch her?" James asked. "The Toy Collector?"

"Yes. And Seekins, Langan and I plan on getting a confession out of her tomorrow."

"What do you need a confession for? You caught the witch red handed."

"You'd be surprised how much red tape a confession can cut through, son," Harry mumbled.

"Go back to sleep," Tonks said, kissing his forehead.

James nodded and closed his eyes. Within five minutes, he was snoring softly.

"How do you plan on getting a confession?" Harry asked. "She's completely unhinged."

"Let's go check on Teddy, and I'll tell you the plan."


	7. Breakthrough

**The Toy Collector**

"What do you remember?" Harry asked as James sipped his orange juice.

"Just a few moments before she took me," he told his father. "I woke up and everything felt…odd. Like when you're sleeping in a new place, and you wake up and don't remember where you are for a second. Then I saw her. I tried to yell for you, but it came out all…gargled. Then she took out her wand. I don't remember anything else."

Harry nodded.

"Mr. Potter?" one of the Healers asked, sticking his head into the room. "May I see you for a moment?"

* * *

"Harry!" Tonks said, surprised. "I thought you said you were going to stay at the hospital."

"I need to talk to you," he said in a low voice. "Teddy's…not doing well."

"What do you mean?"

"The extractions…they were a solution, but not the actual solution. What I mean is, it's not like they were the actual counter curse—"

"Harry, what's wrong with Teddy?" Tonks demanded.

"He's…dying."

"What?"

"We have to get her to tell us what curse she used. It's the only way to help him. Whatever she did… it weakened him a lot when they took him out of it. Especially since the curse hadn't completed. The other kids recovered well enough because the spell had finished its course."

Tonks leaned against the wall, mind racing. Small lights flashed across her vision, and her stomach swam.

"Nymphadora," Harry said.

She looked up.

"You and Seekins have the best plan of getting any information out of her, but if it comes to it, we can get an order from Kingsley to have her memories extracted. Even then, though, it's going to take a while. And if she did the spell nonverbally, that'll make it take even longer. Dark magic is vast... we don't have time to pick through every possibility. You have to be calm. You can do this. George and Hermione just came in from France. They're staying with the boys. We have to work."

Tonks nodded and took a few deep, steadying breaths. "Right. Let's go."

* * *

Seekins peeked into the interrogation room. "Good morning," he said quietly. He was glad his character was supposed to be meek and insecure, because he was incredibly nervous. "Did you…did they bring you breakfast?"

"Why would you care? I'm a criminal," she said.

"Maybe," Seekins said, looking at the ground. "But you still have to eat."

She looked him over. "If you're planning on interrogating me, you're wasting—"

"I'm not. I just wanted to make sure no one had bothered you," he insisted, keeping his voice level and quiet. "I'm not even supposed to be here, really. They don't let me interrogate people, not that I want to. I don't care to bully others."

Something in the witch's face changed then. "You're quite young," she said.

"The youngest, apart from Harry. I'm 20. My name is Thomas. Thomas Seekins."

"And…are you married?"

"No," Seekins said. "The others joke that I'm married to my books, but… no. I don't really…. I'm not a fan of physical affection, so it wouldn't really work. Makes me queasy."

The witch chuckled then. It made the hair on the back of Seekins's neck stand up. "A bookworm. I'm sure that talent is…underappreciated. So smart, for someone so young."

The door burst open and Pierce strode into the room. He did a convincing job of looking pissed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I…I just…" Seekins stammered.

"Captain Potter specifically ordered you not to talk to _this_," he said, indicating the witch.

"I just wanted to talk to her for a bit."

Pierce sneered. "Get out, Seekins."

"You're not a captain yet, Pierce."

"Fine," the older man said. He shot a spell that made the remains of the breakfast tray go flying into the wall. "You can clean that up while you have your little chat." He slammed the door on his way out.

"Sorry," Seekins said shakily. He paused, wondering what Tonks wanted him to talk about before she came in. He decided to keep the focus on himself, so the Toy Collector wouldn't think he was interrogating her. "I…they think I'm too nice to the…er…"

"Criminals. Go on and say it boy, it's alright. That's what I am in their eyes, isn't it. But not in yours."

"Sorry?"

"I see you, Thomas. You're…different than these barbarians. You're…pure."

_If__ only __she__ knew__…__._ "What do you mean?"

"You care… and you know what I did wasn't wrong."

He wanted to ask… Merlin did he want to ask. But if he asked then, it would be over. "You…seemed like you loved them. In your letters."

"I did. That's why I wanted to change them. I wanted to keep them perfect."

Change. Seekins's index file-like mind kept that word stored. "Because…it's hard to stay perfect. No matter how hard you try," he added in almost a whisper. He felt slightly guilty, but that feeling went away when he thought about Teddy.

His performance must have been convincing, because she reached across the table and took his hand.

* * *

"Kid should be in Muggle movies," Langan said in awe. "What a performance."

"Er…Tonks," Harry said. "Could you…maybe tone down the cleavage?"

"I'm supposed to look like the aggressor here," she said, frustrated. "If we're going to tip her over the edge, I have to be the polar opposite of innocent little Seekins there."

Pierce, Langan, Harry, Kaper, and Kingsley all snorted. Seekins had Fred and George's levels of innocence, if that much….

"There," Tonks said, turning around again.

"Thank you," Harry said, smirking. "Besides," he added, "You don't want to give the guy a heart attack."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Tonks muttered, opening the door to the interrogation room. "Thomas, we've talked about this." She smirked as he jumped. "Keira Ipswich. Nice to finally meet you formally." She put a hand on Seekins shoulder, and remained standing.

The Toy Collector glared at her.

"Seekins, love, you really have to stop letting these criminals get inside your head," she said, running her fingers through his hair.

"I am _not_ a criminal," Ipswich said.

Tonks tapped into the evil half of her genetics and gave an award-winning sneer as she continued to screw up Seekins's hairstyle. "And I'm not a senior-level Auror."

"Stop."

"Excuse me?"

"Stop. Touching. Him."

Tonks didn't stop, and the next second, the witch was on her feet.

"Enough!" she shouted. "I will not let you defile him!"

"Defile?"

"You call me a criminal… you think what I did to those kids was distorting them. I was preserving them!"

Tonks saw the light in Seekins's eyes at the witch's words. "Seekins. Let's go. That's an order."

* * *

"Harry, where's Harry?" Seekins asked as soon as the door had closed behind him and Tonks.

"What's up, mate?" Harry said, shouldering his way over.

"We were wrong again," he said. "Well, sort of. She didn't encase the kids, like we thought."

"Harry, go to St. Mungo's and tell them to look into a type of dark magic called appearance distortion," Tonks said.

"I'll go too," Langan told him.

"I've heard of that before, but I can't think of where," Kaper said.

"It's not commonly used or talked about," Seekins told her. "It sounds rather…harmless, but it's not. Especially… especially if you get it wrong or disturb the process."

"Mate, none of us knew what was going on," Tonks said. "We were trying to help them."

"What is it?" Pierce asked.

"Remember when Harry gave that briefing on You-Know-Who's memories? How he said after a while He started looking different? You-Know-Who said it himself, that he'd learned and practiced things few others would dare to. Appearance distortion is a set of rituals in which the witch or wizard can make themselves, or someone else, into an embodiment of their soul. It didn't hit me until she actually said 'distortion'. She's trying to preserve their innocence. You-Know-Who's features turned…well, disgusting, because he was the most evil thing on two legs and he kept doing it over a long period of time. The kids turned into what looked like toys because really those types of toys are just idealized versions of kids."

"Merlin's jock strap, Seekins… you're brilliant," Pierce said, slapping him on the back.

"Wish I'd been brilliant sooner. This makes sense as to why Teddy's in trouble."

"And why James isn't," Tonks said. "She said he was fighting the time magic when she was trying to take Teddy. She probably started the ritual then so she wouldn't have to struggle with him."

"We'll take it from here, Tonks," Pierce said. "Go get your son."

_**LbN: Seekins doesn't have it all figured out, but they're getting there! Send reviews please!**_


	8. Waiting

**The Toy Collector**

Harry ran a hand through Teddy's nearly transparent hair as the Healers talked. He glanced over at them, frustrated at the fact that they had an answer and still didn't know where to begin.

"Am I going to die?" Teddy whispered.

"No," Harry said firmly. "You're going to be fine."

"You don't have to protect me," he wheezed, hair going blue momentarily. "I'd rather know."

"Don't worry, Teddy," Harry repeated. "They know what they're doing."

"Mr. Potter?" one of the Healers said. "We're ready to begin. The process will take a while. Your hypothesis on the distortion ritual was correct, but she did also find a way to attach parts of the real toy to the child. We'll remove those first—the easy part of the process—before beginning the counter ritual."

Harry nodded. "I reckon this is going to take a while."

"Indeed, sir."

Teddy reached up slowly and took Harry's hand. "Don't leave me, Harry."

"I won't," Harry promised.

* * *

The waiting room was dark, except for the colored lights coming from Teddy's room. Tonks had gotten to St. Mungo's after the ritual had started, and thus hadn't been allowed to enter the room. She'd stayed with James until he'd fallen asleep before moving out into the hall. She'd paced, eaten the sandwich Angelina brought to her, paced some more, checked on the remaining two children from the case, and paced again. She was officially so agitated that all that was left for her to do was to sit still. And when she did, she focused the lights coming from her eldest son's room. There weren't any sparks or bangs. The lights didn't come in harsh flashes. It was…gentle. All she could see was a dimly lit, multicolored mist. For some reason it calmed her.

A hand slipped into hers. It was George. "Wotcher," he said.

"That's my line," she told him, attempting a smile.

"Yeah, well, I learned from the best, didn't I? Charlie owled," he said.

"He knows what's—"

"Fred filled the entire family in. Charlie told me to come check on you. Make sure you hadn't gone catatonic."

"He always was insufferably Gryffindor-ish," Tonks said fondly. "I'm…doing as well as can be expected. I just wish I knew what was happening."

George nodded. "I'll wait with you."

They lapsed into silence, both staring at the door in front of them. As the mist drifted across the small window and under the door, Tonks found herself attributing each color to her sons. Blue—James was sad, Teddy was frightened. Red—Teddy was mad, James was excited. Pink—both were calm. Green—James was mad, Teddy was frustrated…. She kept quizzing herself on her sons' morphing abilities until finally, she fell asleep.

* * *

"_You're good with him," Tonks said as Harry played with Teddy._

_Harry just smiled. "He looks like Remus when he sneezes."_

"_He sounds like Remus when he sleeps," Tonks told him, laughing. "Kid snores like an elephant."_

"_Do elephants snore?"_

"_Shut it."_

_They sat on the floor in silence for a few minutes before Tonks spoke again. "What are we doing, Harry?"_

"_Tonks—"_

"_Don't. We've been playing house for months now. You're holding a two year old who subconsciously morphs to look like you."_

"_That's actually why I'm worried."_

_Tonks sighed and scooted closer to him. "Harry…. Remus wanted me to move on. He left me pregnant, stayed hidden the entire war, and only saw Teddy once after he was born. I think things would have been different if he had lived, but… I know he would be okay with this. Do you not want this?"_

"_I want this, but I want him to know his father too."_

"_So he'll call you 'Harry', and you'll tell him about how Remus taught you to cast a Patronus. He will know him."_

_Harry smiled and kissed Teddy on the top of the head. _

* * *

"_Are you barking mad?" Tonks asked, taking the newborn back from Harry. "You want to name our child, WHAT?"_

"_It's a good name," Harry huffed. "He—"_

"_Harry James Potter, repeat what you just suggested as a name for our no-longer-hypothetical son."_

"_Albus Severus?" Harry suggested again._

"_And, knowing me so well, why would you think you'd get away with that?" she asked, smirking._

"_He'd be named after two great headmasters…."_

"_He'd also be beaten up every day by his Muggle classmates during primary."_

"_We could send him to the Wizard's Primary," Harry quipped, grinning. _

"_If you want to send him to school with his cousin Scorpius, be my guest."_

"_Point taken. James Severus?" he asked hopefully._

_Tonks looked down at the sleeping infant and smiled. "I think I could get used to that."_

* * *

"_I don't like it."_

"_Be nice, Teddy," Tonks said. "And it's not an 'it'. It's a 'he'. He's your brother."_

"_He smells funny. And he puked on Harry."_

"_You did that a lot too, mate, to be fair," Harry said. He picked the three year old up and swung him around. _

* * *

"_Bye!" Teddy yelled, leaning out the window. His hair was changing colors rapidly. "Bye! James, I'll write you!" _

_As the Hogwarts Express rolled away, Tonks looked to her right. James was sniffling, and obviously trying very hard not to cry. "Love—"_

_James broke down completely. "Please, just take me home."_

"_He gets that dramatic edge from you," Tonks whispered to Harry. _

* * *

Tonks snapped awake. There were no more lights coming from the room, no more mist. She could see Harry and a couple of the Healers through the window now.

"Maybe you should go check on James," George said.

"Go get Harry, George," she told him. It was unnecessary—Harry was walking towards the door. She fell back into the chair. Rather, she fell backwards, and George caught her and put her in the chair. She heard George from a long way off—no doubt saying something comforting.

Harry didn't say anything. He didn't have to. He simply opened the door, crossed the hall, and pulled Tonks into his arms.

Teddy was gone.


	9. Epilogue

**The Toy Collector**

The press had gotten wind of everything, of course. Someone from St. Mungo's had leaked the basic details of the case, and the Wizarding community had gone mad. The day before Teddy's funeral, Tonks and Harry had had to endure a press conference from hell. As much as Kingsley had hated to make them attend, he needed to put faces with the names of the people who had solved the case. They had to reassure the public that they'd had things more or less under control.

"The witch known as the Toy Collector has, indeed, been apprehended," Kingsley had told the room packed with reporters. "The source who leaked this story did not have the full information necessary to accurately report it, and they should feel the burden of creating this panic. The Toy Collector stopped kidnapping children at random four months ago. During that time our team managed to track her down and, two weeks ago, recovered the children she'd taken. At this point, she began kidnapping again. This time, however, she had a specific goal and a specific set of kids in mind. We did _not_, as some have accused, keep the community in the dark about a threat. The pattern and information we had led us to believe that children outside this specific group were not in danger. The group of kids she targeted were children of those close to Captains Potter—including their sons. As many of you already know, Teddy Lupin did not make it through the recovery process. Please, hold your questions," he added, seeing some of the reporters raise their hands. "We ask for your support, and for you to respect the family's privacy as they go through this difficult time. Thank you."

Harry and Tonks had left the hall at record speed after seeing Kingsley give them a nod. They'd known that the press would start hurling questions as soon as Kingsley stopped speaking, and had gotten the go-ahead to leave first.

The media hadn't complied with Kingsley's request, however. When they'd Apparated back to Andromeda's house, they'd found reporters already there. Andromeda was threatening them with what Tonks said was the entire list of illegal hexes from the Auror Training Manual.

The next day, at Teddy's funeral, an absolutely terrifying side of Harry had come out when he spotted cameras flashing in the distance. The reporters had retreated as quickly as possible, clutching small bits of broken camera and threatening lawsuits.

* * *

"James?" Harry asked, shuffling into the kitchen. It was seven in the morning, but his son was already dressed completely.

James was sitting at the table eating a doughnut and reading the Daily Prophet. "Morning."

"What are you doing with that?" Harry asked, nodding to the paper. "I thought we agreed—"

"I know. But I can't ignore it forever," James said. "I'd rather find out what they're saying for myself than from kids at school."

Harry understood that feeling. He nodded and tapped the coffee pot with his wand. "Why are you up so early?" he asked. "We don't have to leave for another three hours."

"I want to leave early. I want to see Teddy before I go. Will you take me?"

Harry paused with a doughnut halfway to his mouth. "Right," he said quietly. "Of course."

* * *

The grave and headstone were lined with toy soldiers. Tonks hated it, but she understood the idea. Kind of. The media had backed off a bit, but the public still wanted to pay their respects. It was a kind gesture, and it did warm her a bit to see this outpouring of love.

She and Harry stood back as James stood by the headstone. He rearranged the toys until there was a space at the top. He drew a small figurine from his pocket. This soldier was different from the rest—its hair changed colors.

"Do you want to talk to him?" Tonks whispered.

"Maybe you should…." Harry said. "I…don't think I've been very good at comforting him so far," he added. There had been nights when Harry woke up to the sound of James's sobs. He'd tried talking to him, holding him, letting him listen to replays of Quidditch matches…. Nothing had seemed to help. A few nights ago, however, James had managed to get a full night's sleep. It had been a relief, but Harry wasn't sure about where to go from there. He didn't know how to help his son. "I'll wait by the car."

"Okay," Tonks said. She walked over to James and pulled him close.

"I miss him," the boy said. He was crying.

"I know. I do too."

"I'm sorry," James whispered.

"For what?"

"It's my fault he's gone."

"It. Is. Not." Tonks knelt in front of him and his hands. "You didn't do anything wrong. None of this is your fault."

"He tried to hide me. I didn't want to. I was scared, and I didn't want him to leave me. If I had just—"

"James, listen to me," Tonks said firmly. "You were in an awful situation. It could have gone a hundred different ways. What happened to Teddy was not your fault."

James leaned into her. "Reckon we should go," he said.

"Yeah," she agreed, giving him a small smile. "You have a train to catch."

_**Fin**_


End file.
